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Padubidri: Fishing boat capsizes; all 7 fishermen on board rescued Alleged atrocity on lawyer: Punjalakatte SI suspended Moral policing at jewellery shop: 4 arrested Bajrang Dal activists try to assault youth, girlfriend in Mangaluru SC to hear Bilkis Bano’s plea against release of 11 convicts on 13 Dec Nusrat Noor: First Muslim Woman to Top Jharkhand Public Service Commission
Bengaluru, 03 May 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: Mass open cremation of Covid- 19 victims, wrapped in Personal Protection kits (PPEs), may possibly lead to a longterm health and environment disaster, according to a senior environment officer. “Cremation of the bodies of Covid-19 victims, wrapped in PPEs may lead to emission of dioxin and furan gases.
They are environmental pollutants and belong to the so-called “dirty dozen” - a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Dioxin and furan are heavy gases and are carcinogenic in nature. They do not get disintegrated and are present in the atmosphere at breathing level,” the officer, who didn’t wish to be named, pointed out.
He suggested that PPE kits should either be removed from the bodies before they are cremated, or the bodies wrapped in non-chlorinated kits, to prevent emission of toxic gases. “The PPE kits should ideally be disposed of at a designated place at the grounds for scientific incineration along with the bio-medical waste, but this is an unprecedented situation. Who could have imagined a human tragedy of this scale?” he said.
Long queues at crematoria becoming super spreaders
Explaining the difference between open and closed cremation, the officer said that in a crematorium, bodies are “incinerated at 600 degrees Centigrade in a closed chamber. In open cremation, bodies are burnt, and not incinerated. It is the burning of PPE kits along with the bodies that will lead to long-term health disaster”, the officer explained.
The Karnataka Government this week identified four acres of land in Kurubarahalli in Tavarekere on the outskirts of Bengaluru for cremation of Covid-19 victims to ease the mounting burden on the crematoria in the city. The long winding queues at the crematoria were turning to be super spreaders of the highly transmissible second wave of the mutant virus, which compelled the government to allocate land just outside the city at a short time.
According to sources, the situation is such that there was no time to conduct an environmental assessment impact of open mass cremations of this scale. It became functional on April 25 with daily mass cremations.
FROM ACROSS THE STATE
KR Nagar MLA Sa Ra Mahesh has purchased two ambulances to help transport Covid patients
Kolar MP S Muniswamy visited the defunct BGML Hospital to see if it could be converted into a Covid hospital
Shivamogga City Corporation sets up a Covid war room and helpine to address people’s grievances
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Asr | أسر | |
Maghrib | مغرب | |
Isha | عشا |